Sola is a municipality in Rogaland with 27,153 inhabitants, and 21,967 of these live in Sola's share of the settlement Stavanger / Sandnes (which has a total of 228,287 inhabitants). Other settlements are Hålandsmarka (915) and Stenebyen (1 003). There are seven constituencies in Sola municipality: Tananger, Sola, Håland, Dysjaland, Stangeland, Røyneberg and Grannes.
The name
The name Sola probably has the same origin as Solund.
The name hardly has anything to do with the sun or shoe sole, but is
thought to originate from the old word sólh (= furrow,
specialization), related to Anglo-Saxon sulh (= plow, plow furrow).
The hilly landscape on Sola may have been perceived as furrows.
Nature and geography
The municipality is mainly covered by
the lower and middle layers of the sliding deck of the Caledonian
mountain range folding, with lower mica shale and fillite, and at
the top granite and eye ice from the middle and younger Proterozoic.
The municipality borders only in the far southeast to the
Sveconorvegian bedrock shield, with Gothic, 1,800 - 1,550 million
years old. granitic to dioritic gneiss. The faults go in a
southwest-northeast direction.
Sola municipality is located
north of Jæren, by Hafrsfjord. The municipality borders Klepp in the
south, Sandnes in the east and Stavanger in the east and north. To
the west, the municipality borders the North Sea, which has created
a livelihood for countless generations.
In Sola there are
many fine sandy beaches, including Solastranden. The beaches are
part of the landscape conservation area Jærstrendene, and they
stretch from Kolnes in the north via Solastranden, Ølbergstranden,
Vigdelstranden, Hellestøstranden, Bybergstranden and to the border
with Klepp municipality in the south.
The municipality's
highest point is Kjerrberget (101 m above sea level).
Sola is
a fairly small municipality in area, the area is only 69 km². The
majority is fertile plains. The agricultural area is 41 km².
Rott Island is known for its bird life. Here used to be Norway's
southernmost bird weather. NRK is considering recording the series
Himmelblå på Rott. Today, the archipelago of Kjørholmane, a little
further southwest, has taken over this title. Kjørholmane is a
seabird sanctuary. This is the southernmost area in the country for
species such as puffins and crutches, and the area also has the
largest cormorant colony in Norway south of Runde.
The center
of Sola is called Solakrossen, which is located a little west of the
municipality's center. This is where most of the municipality's
trading stand is located and several companies have established
themselves in the area around Solakrossen, especially in the south
and east of Solakrossen between this and the Airport. In Solakrossen
is the municipal center and here are the City Hall, the Sheriff's
Office, the culture house and Sola Handelslag.
Sola municipality is rich in traces of human activity,
from the Stone Age via the Bronze Age, Viking Age and up to the
present day. Rich grave finds, many ancient monuments and traces of
large farms tell of a time of greatness dating back to the Bronze
Age. The burial mounds on Rege are the richest grave find in Norway
from the Bronze Age.
Well-known names from the Viking Age are
Harald Hårfagre (ca. 865 - ca. 933) and Erling Skjalgsson (born ca.
975). Both tower as prominent figures in Norwegian history. The
latter is also called the King of Smokes or the King of Smokes. One
cold afternoon before Christmas in 1028, he was killed by Aslak
Fitjaskalle's battle ax in a battle up by Bokn, where Erling's
forces were defeated by Olav Haraldsson and his people. At the
1000th anniversary in 1995 over Erling Skalgsson, the monument
"Verna & Pilhær" by the artist Elisabeth Jarstø was unveiled. The
monument is located in Kulturhusparken / Solakrossen.
The
unification of Norway into one kingdom probably took place right by
Ytraberget in Sola municipality. A monument with King Olav's
signature was erected near the top of Ytraberget at the 12th
anniversary in 1972. The monument "Sword in the mountains" by the
artist Fritz Røed was unveiled in 1983. It is located in Møllebukta
(by the part of Hafrsfjord that belongs to Stavanger municipality).
The first county council in Håland (then spelling Haaland) was
convened in 1837 and elected losoldermann Gabriel Monsen as its
first mayor.
Today's Sola municipality corresponds to what
from 1840 was called Sola parish in Håland county. The former
municipality of Håland was divided in 1930 between Sola and the then
Madla municipality (which in 1965 was merged with Stavanger).
At the beginning of 1980, the population in the municipality was
12,323.